Headlines
by oakleaf
Summary: There was only darkness for the two of them - except Go, which gave them light. A story told in headlines. -AU; one-shot; blind!Hikaru and blind!Akira-


**Headlines**

**Summary:** [AU; one-shot; blind!Hikaru and blind!Akira] There was only darkness for the two of them - except Go, which gave them light. A story told in headlines.

**A/N:** This was an experiment for me. It wrote itself, but refused to do what I wanted it to do. It's a combination of two different ideas that I've seen in the Hikago fandom, one called 'Blind Go' and the other called 'Blind Man's Go' (they're amazing), as well as being heavily inspired by Shtuff's 'Blind' in the Naruto universe (which is also amazing).

No shounen-ai is intended, but may be read that way.

This is unbeta-ed. Please point out any mistakes.

**NOTE: **The italicised headlines occur during or after the section which they head.

* * *

><p><em>Touya's son born blind<em>

It had made headlines when found out. Touya Koyo, star of the Go world, had openly expressed his wish that his unborn child would take an interest in Go and head in a new generation of players. Now these wishes would never come true.

Despite this, the childhood years of one Touya Akira were fun and happy.

He'd been interested in the pachi sound that often came out of his father's study. He'd asked his father about it, but his father had just said, "Never mind," sadly and hugged his son. (Koyo had never been into physical displays of affection, but this was needed for his blind son.) Koyo didn't want to give himself the false hope that one day Akira would become as strong as him.

One day, when Akira was six, a boy at his school who was talking about a game he had just begun to learn, Go. Akira knew his father played it and listened in.

When he got home, he said to his father, "I heard someone talking about Go. They were learning it from their grandfather. Can you teach me to play?"

Koyo couldn't deny the request. He guided his son to a board.

"Feel this? It is a Go board. It has nineteen lines one way and nineteen lines the other way. You play one of these," Akira felt a stone pushed into his hand, "at the intersections of the lines. One person uses warm stones and the other, cool ones. However, there is another way to play Go, called blind Go. Imagine the board in your head, numbering them one through to nineteen from left to right and the same way from top to bottom. Players play by calling out the co-ordinates of the points, the first number representing the column."

The explanations progressed. Akira talked to the boy in his class, and they played blind Go together, improving all the time. He saw the shapes in his mind with instinct, never mind that he'd never seen a game played.

* * *

><p><em>Blind Go Board Gets Pro Approval<em>

Hikaru began attending Akira's school at age five, when a household accident left him blind. His family had been distraught. To cheer him up, his grandfather had given him a Go board. He'd met Sai through the board and began to love Go.

Akira had been Hikaru's 'guide' when he began at the new school, and had discovered many things about the other boy. They'd been drawn together by a similar love of Go.

Hikaru had never been the best of students, but with a lot of motivation from his parents, a new-found desire to do better and a very supportive friend, Hikaru found himself obtaining relatively good marks.

When one day Hikaru asked Akira whether he believed in ghosts, Akira sensed that something important was about to happen. Hikaru ended up telling Akira about Sai, about their NetGo adventures and about how he was thrashed on the Go board daily.

Seeing Hikaru and Akira playing blind Go and enjoying it so much, Yun, one of the school teachers in charge of clubs (and was a go fanatic), decided to find someone that could build a system that could let the two boys play on a board, so they could enter the pro world they so dearly wished to. He first contacted Yang Hai, who he knew had contact with software engineers. Eventually he was contacted by an electronics and systems engineer who thought she could do a build with all of the restrictions that Yun had set.

A month later the board arrived. It looked like a standard board, but attached to opposite ends of the board were two consoles and on a third side, a main control console.

Yun called the boys over to the board.

"I asked a friend of mine to build a board that you could play Go on. If you sit in front of it, you will be able to find the controls. On the consoles, there are the 361 playable intersections marked out using crosses as placeholders. When a point has been played, it will change to a circle if it is a black piece or a triangle if it is a white piece. A click will tell you the other player has played."

The boys began playing a game. Yun watched, expecting an average game. Their skill astounded him. He had not told them that the board had additional feature: beneath the surface of the board lay lights that lit up when moves were played. The intricacy of the shapes and the patterns of the joseki and fuseki that the boys played were very high level.

The board could be controlled in several ways: with two players using the consoles; with one player laying specially chipped stones onto the board; or with two players laying stones.

The Meijin was ecstatic over this development. He'd been trying to get a board made too, but this was better than he thought. The stones even made an impressively authentic pachi when they were played on the board.

Koyo took the board home that day and played against his son. The chips in the stones recorded his plays and sent them to the consoles. The moves that Akira played lit up an impressive array of strategies, and Koyo felt much pride in his son.

* * *

><p><em>Two Blind Boys Pass Pro Exam<em>

"My son Akira and his friend Hikaru will be joining us for the study group today."

All of the assembled knew of Akira being blind, so were surprised to see two white canes lying around the room. The consoled board they were sitting before was also a surprise.

"Both boys have the same handicap, so discussion today will be slightly different.

"Shall we start with the Kisei finals?"

The discussion began. The pros would say the move they were discussing out loud, so the boys could follow.

The first time Hikaru made a comment, none of the pros in the room expected it to be of any value. After all, he was an unknown player who couldn't see.

They were startled by the depth of the suggested move.

"Here. If Ouza had played 12-8 here, he could have opened a giant trap. It would play out like this."

The pros gathered around the board, seeing the suggested play. They were all surprised by the trap. This was the first time Hikaru had seen the game, and yet he could still come up with an extremely complex trap that was almost foolproof.

After the discussions, they decided to play some games.

"Shindou-kun, would you like a game?" Aishwara asked.

"Yes please!" came the answer.

After forty hands, the two of them were even.

After eighty, Hikaru began drawing ahead.

By the end, with komi, the score stood 76-75.5 in Hikaru's favour. Silence reigned in the room when the score was announced.

Everyone was amazed. Who was Hikaru, able to defeat a 2-dan like that?

That year, their fourteenth, the two of them entered the pro exams and managed to turn pro, to the eternal amazement of the Go world. The two sets of parents stood proudly in the hall as their sons were presented with their certificates, revelling in the fighting spirit the two boys had.

* * *

><p><em>Touya and Shindou Qualify for Hokuto Cup<em>

When the under-18s tournament was launched, the play-offs were for all three positions on the team.

The two blind boys played with considerable grace given the pressure put on them. They were expected to do twice as well as their peers, but were still loved in the community of Go players, especially by their age-group peers and the players at the Heart of Stone Go salon. Hikaru had been shown there by Isumi and Waya, two friends he had met during the pro exam. (He was extremely charismatic; everyone had loved him. That year, Hikaru, Akira and Waya passed, Isumi following the next year.)

After Sai had left, Hikaru had been depressed and unwilling to play. When Isumi and Akira teamed up to help Hikaru, Hikaru discovered Sai's Go in his and he'd promised to keep playing, a hundred, or a thousand more games.

Hikaru and Akira were allowed to enter the selections after an uproar in the Go world over their exclusion. The other two countries' team leaders agreed, seeing the mess and truly wanting the opportunity to assess the potential of the two young pros. They thought the boys would never make the cut.

But make the cut they did, and with flying colours, establishing them as up and coming stars of the Go world.

During the Hokuto Cup, the boys had been nervous about the attention they would be receiving, but stood proud, knowing that they had reached a point at which they could play against such opponents.

Eventually, Japan drew with the other teams, proving the strength of the blind players was equal to those of international ones.

Yashiro was pleasantly surprised, as was Kurata, who was just happy that they'd equalled An Daesun's team.

* * *

><p><em>Touya Wins Meijin Title<em>

It was the second time that Akira Touya had challenged for the Meijin title. The first time, Ogata had held the title. Akira had managed to take it through to the seventh match, but in the end, Ogta had held out, with more experience giving him the edge.

This time, however, Akira had won the title in five matches.

It was the first time that a blind player won a title.

They had made their way up the ranks slowly but surely, playing strongly. They earned respect from highly ranked players and also the envy of some of the younger ones.

Some Go commentators had thought that although the two blind pros had talent and strength, they would not be able to obtain any of the titles.

This particular win, more than any other, gave the Go Institute solid proof that their decision seven years ago was a good one. It had dedicated itself to finding the best players in Japan, no matter what handicap they had, as long as they could play well.

Koyo smiled on the day the news had reached him (his son had called him straight after leaving the post game discussion).

His dream had come true after all. His son had done what he'd always hoped for and then some. Akira had Go strength almost equal to his own and a presence that sometimes rivalled his, always a picture of calm in every situation (Except when he was with Hikaru, but those times were exceptions to the norm.).

He could not have been a prouder father.

* * *

><p><em>Shindou Honinbo to Challenge for Meijin<em>

The headlines told the story that followed. With every passing day the rivalry - and the friendship - between the two grew.

They made names for themselves with their Go prowess rather than their physical differences to other players.

They were amazing on the board and inspiring off it, talking about their success as motivational speakers and helping other blind players through outreach programs. They wanted their success to help other handicapped players into the fray.

They could not see, but they could play.

They could build their universes on the goban.

They could lay out patterns, intricate and complex.

They could bring out the beauty of the game.

They may not have had sight, but they had their rivalry, and they had Go.

Because on the Goban, it is not sight that matters.

_**FIN.**_


End file.
